Aitou
by NiChee
Summary: AU. They were strangers seeking comfort from each other. One night that was meant to become something more. When they meet again, the cicumstances will be against them. AoshiKaoru, possible EnishiKaoru
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I wish I did though...

**Author's Note:**

Hey all! I've decided to start writing another AK fic! My other AK fic, Blue and White is currently on hiatus. Don't worry. I'm definitely going to finish it. But I'm taking a break from it just because it was getting difficult to continue the story.

This new fic is called temporarily "Aitou". It's "Regret" in english. I think. I just looked it up in the dictionary so I'm not sure if it's the appropriate word. If someone knows, please tell me! I hope you like this one! Happy Holidays!

**Warnings: **Rated M for language and some lime/lemon/whatever.

_Italics_- thoughts

**_Bold Italics_ **- flashbacks

* * *

**Aitou**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

The university campus was full of life. Students laughing, hugging and smiling at each other for it was the first day of the new school year. People would normally assume that the first day would be a gloomy and depressing day, obviously because it signaled the end of their vacation. No more partying til dawn, no more white sand beaches, no more freedom. Yet the first day of school would also mean seeing the friends that you missed dearly over the summer, and chatting endlessly about how each one spent the few months of rest and recreation they had.

Oh yes, the day seems like it will be a fantastic one.

"Kaoru-chaaaan!!!"

Kaoru stopped in her tracks and whirled around to look for the owner of the voice. A crowd of students in the hall were bustling at every direction trying to find their rooms. She didn't see any familiar face. Turning back towards the direction she was going, she was stopped and surprised when someone dared to pinch her backside.

"Gah!" _What the?_

She turned around hotly, ready to slap the offending person..._no good son-of-a-b#&!h_...right in his pretty..._effing_...face. But when she turned, she found a goofy Misao shoved into her own face. And then a surprising peck on the lips.

"Ohayouuuuu Kaoru-chan! I missed you so much!" Misao giggled.

The taller girl was flabbergasted at her friend's actions. "M-misao! Don't pinch my butt! And the...lip...uh...kiss? Wha-"

A slender finger was raised in front of her face. "Kaoru-chan shouldn't be worried! I just thought you looked so kawaii in this new outfit of yours!" The genki girl squealed and latched her arms around Kaoru's waist.

"W-what are you doing?" she stammered.

"Yes, Misao...what exactly are you doing?" A friendly male voice spoke behind the pair.

Kaoru gasped. "Soujiro!?! Uh...get your girlfriend off of me! People are starting to stare!"

And indeed people were staring. No, correction..._the boys were staring_. Kaoru could've sworn she saw a bit of drool hanging on the side of some guy's mouth. Who knows what was translating in their perverted minds when they saw Misao hugging Kaoru rather intimately. Throw in the pinch in the butt and the lip to lip smack...well, you get the idea.

Soujiro rubbed his chin softly and grinned perversely. "Hmm...not just yet. I want to embed this picture into my mind for...future...use."

Kaoru waited for her ears to burst or for herself to go deaf after hearing those words coming out of his innocent little mouth. And if her eyes could pop out of their sockets, they would have at the very moment she saw Soujiro's expression._ Perverted_. Got the word? This is Soujiro Seta we're talking about! Mr. Smiley, Mr. Angel-face, Mr. Baby-face himself.

Her face must've looked horrified for Soujiro was in an instant waving his hands in urgency. "I'm just kidding Kao! No need to distort that pretty face of yours! I would never think of this as some kind of...lesbian...uh...tryst! The though of you and Misao in..somewhere...uhm...doing...something...naughty...uh.."

Soujiro turned red and began fumbling with his fingers. Kaoru raised an eyebrow at him.

"Haha! It's..uh...kinda...facinat-...I mean...disgusting? Yea..disgusting! Hehe." he continued and scratched his head with his right hand, looking up, trying to avoid Kaoru's death glare.

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Riiiiiiight Sou-chan. Even though you failed miserably trying to convince me you were joking, I'll believe you, forget about everything, and walk away. As soon as Misao gets off me."

This in turn elicited a pout from the smaller girl. "Whhhyyy? I missed you! My best friend! C'mon! I'll let you go once you give me a kiss on the lips!"

The boys turned their attention to them eagerly.

Kaoru groaned.

_Perverts._

* * *

Her first day as a college student was going well so far. Having graduated from high school with honors, Kaoru couldn't help but think how well she was going to do in college. College life intimidated her to a certain degree. She just hoped that she'd have nice classmates and nice teachers in all her classes. 

Speaking of teachers, the sensei for their first class in College Physics has yet to show his face. The class was getting noisier as the minutes passed without anyone to chastise them.

"Mi-chan...who's the teacher for this class?" Kaoru asked her best friend who was seated next to her.

"Teacher? Ah...wait a sec..."

Misao pulled out her schedule and scanned the piece of paper with her index finger. "Physics...physics...hm...ah! Here it is! Kashi...Kashiwazaki-sensei."

"Kashiwazaki? Isn't that the one Megumi warned us about?" Kaoru wrinkled her brows, trying to remember exactly Megumi's words.

**_I can't believe someone like him is still teaching in our university! He may be a genius, but that dirty old man keeps on hitting on all pretty girls! He makes it seem like a joke, but still, it creeps me out! You girls best sit at the back of his class. You won't want to be near him..._**

"Bah! If that old geezer ever tries anything on me, It'll be the end of his sorry life!" Misao grunted and banged her clenched fist on her desk.

Kaoru grinned. "Don't worry Mi-chan. We're sitting at the back of the class anyway. And, Megumi said he prefers girls who are...well-endowed."

"Nani?!? Are you saying I'm flat-chested? I am so not! And look at you! Yours aren't that big either!" Misao retaliated and pointed towards her friend's chest.

"Misao! Don't say that! And don't point, for goodness sake!" Blushing, Kaoru quickly slapped away the pointing finger.

"Oh my God!" someone gasped.

The class had unusually become quiet and Kaoru curiously turned to look at a girl on her left. She wondered silently why the blonde had such a dazed look on her face.

"He's sooo dreamy..." another one whispered.

_Dreamy? Who's dreamy?_

She looked around and noticed that every girl in the class was looking dreamily towards someone in front of the class. Kaoru craned her neck to see what the fuss was all about.

A tall young man, with his back to the class, was writing something on the board. Kaoru squinted her eyes to read the words, but she was far too back in the room to make anything out of his handwriting. She assumed it was a name. Focusing back on the man, she noticed he was wearing a navy blue suit.

_He shouldn't be a student...does that mean he's the teacher? Surely he can't be Kashiwazaki-sensei! What the heck is he writing? I need my glasses!_

Ducking her head, she rummaged through her bag searching for her glasses when she suddenly heard him speak.

"Good Morning. I apologize for my tardiness. I know you've been expecting Kashiwazaki-sensei..."

_Ah...so he's not Kashiwazaki-sensei._ Kaoru mused. She was still focused trying to look for her eyeglass case, which at the moment was annoyingly difficult to find. _Why do I always leave my bag in a mess?_

"...but there have been some last minute changes..."

_His voice sounds oddly familiar...ah! Finally!_ Kaoru grabbed her glasses, put them on, and looked up.

When she finally looked at him, she gasped.

She couldn't have prepared herself for this. Nothing could've possibly prepared her for what she was about to experience.

The onslaught of memories, images, and feelings into her consciousness.

**_Hands touching, caressing her soft flesh. His body moving with hers with need and passion._**

"...and I will be teaching this class this school year..."

_**He moved to push deeper into her, and her body arched in response to his aching need.**_

"...my name is..."

_**She whimpered as he kissed her tenderly on her lips.**_

"...Shinomori Aoshi."

_**"Onegai...Aoshi..."**_

* * *

**End of Chapter 1**

**AN:**

Bohahahahahaha! ehm...well? how was it? it seems Kaoru and Aoshi have met before. Dare I say it was no ordinay meeting. hehe

i feel kinda awkward writing the lemony stuff. i hope someone will (please) volunteer to write the lemon part...please? hehe

Any suggestions for title and summary? I'm open to any ideas coz mine suck.

Please **REVIEW**...I wanna know if u guys find it interesting enough for me to continue. Thanks! **Happy Holidays!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

**Warnings: **Rated M for language and some lime/lemon/whatever.

_Italics_- thoughts

**_Bold Italics_ **- flashbacks

* * *

**Aitou**

**Chapter 2  
**

* * *

_Aoshi..._

Shock.

That was her initial reaction. She couldn't move, she couldn't think straight, and she couldn't breathe. All she could do was stare at him through her dark bangs, silently and hoping desperately that he would not notice her. Slowly yet cautiously, her sapphire eyes took in his sharp appearance, his proud, precise movements, and his mouth...

_**She could feel his warm lips trail kisses on her face, then slowly moving lower to her delicate neck… lower to her collarbone…lower…and lower…**_

Kaoru's eyes widened and her head bowed quickly to stare at her desk.

_Oh God...don't let me think about that! Not now… _

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Throwing a quick glance toward her friend on her side, Kaoru mentally sighed in relief that Misao didn't seem to notice her unusual reaction. In fact, Misao was sporting a glazed look on her face as she was staring at their handsome teacher. She and the rest of the ladies in the class…which Kaoru could understand why. Shinomori Aoshi bore an intense aura within him. With just a glance, one would indeed find him disciplined and strong-spirited. And not to forget, he was gorgeous too. When she dared to look at him again, she couldn't help but notice the way his hair fell over his beautiful eyes. Those eyes that were currently scanning a piece of paper he held casually with his strong hands...

_**His hands ghosted over her skin as if to tease her. She would have groaned in protest had he not reassured her as he encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her to his chest.**_

_Argh! Stop! Stop it Kaoru! And stop gawking at him for the love of.._.

Instantly, Kaoru closed her eyes shut. Yes. That was it. If she can't see him, she'd stop herself from remembering all the things that happened that one night. Right?

Wrong. How very wrong she was.

The moment she closed her eyes, his rich, deep voice assaulted her ears.

"_**Kirei…" he whispered softly as he nibbled on her ear. "Kaoru…"**_

A nudge to her elbow was what it took to pull her out of her daze. Misao was eyeing her curiously. Rather curiously. The girl was staring at her intently, and Kaoru could only feel conscious of herself. She hoped that her expression did not betray anything as she struggled to compose herself. No one, not even her best friend, knew of her...'acquaintance'...with Aoshi. And she was not ready to reveal the information to anyone at all.

_I don't think I will ever be ready..._

"Kao...why are your ears all red?" the girl whispered.

Flabbergasted, Kaoru's automatically moved her hands to cover her ears. "W-what? What do you mean?"

Misao glanced back to their teacher and then back to her friend. Realization seemed to hit her and she raised her brow. For a moment Kaoru swore she saw her friend's eyes glint mischievously. And that, for obvious reasons, was not a good sign. That look was bad news. Especially to her.

"You're blushing!" Misao exclaimed happily.

"Nani?! No I'm not! And keep your voice down!" Kaoru whispered back.

"You can't fool me, my dear. Now what were the dirty thoughts were you thinking of when you look at Shinomori-sensei?" Misao cocked her head to the side slightly and gave the blushing girl a toothy grin.

_How the heck did she know? And how could she think that I'm having dirty thoughts just 'coz of a blush? I am 100 I don't have drool hanging by the side of my mouth…unlike some of these girls in the class! Yuck! _

Kaoru paused for a second before she shot Misao a deadly glare. "I wasn't blushing! And I was certainly NOT having dirty thoughts of-"

"Yes you were...and you still are. I mean, look at you. Your eyes are practically eating him up." A smug reply.

"No I am not!" she hissed back quietly.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No! Stop it already! You're gonna-"

She paused suddenly when her friend's eyes moved to stare sheepishly at something behind her. Or rather...someone. How she hadn't sensed his presence near her, she couldn't figure. But that didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was that at the moment, he was standing where Kaoru didn't want him to be standing. Anywhere near her.

_Lord, please...no. Please please please...no..._

"Is there a problem here?"

The coldness of his voice startled her. She dared not look back, keeping her head down. How was she going to get out of this? The one thing that she was desperately hoping wouldn't happen, well...it was going to happen. Kaoru didn't want him to see her. She didn't want him to recognize her. Because when he does, she will see.

_Regret._

She was afraid she would see it in his eyes. And she didn't want to deal with something like that again. No...she couldn't. She would hurt again.

A moment later, she heard Misao speak. "Ah...gomennasai Shinomori-sensei! We didn't mean to...I mean...it was my fault! I started it...not Kaoru!"

_No, Misao!_

"Is this true?" she heard him finally ask.

Kaoru assumed the question was directed at her. But as much as she wished it wasn't, her assumptions were confirmed when Misao eyed her expectantly and nudged her by the knee. The gods were against her today. She silently wondered what she has done to deserve this. Having no other choice, she mustered up all the courage she had and opened her mouth to speak, still with her head bowed and her back facing him.

"Ie."

She cringed inwardly. The response came out as a high-pitched squeak. She could've hit herself with her hand for that. So much for her so-called courage.

Misao nudged her again and whispered frantically so that only she could hear. "Face him! He'll think you've got no respect and...crap...he's freakin' intimidating! Just..."

_Do it. _

Kaoru stood up slowly. It was inevitable. It made no sense to delay it.

_You can't escape it._

Turning around, she gave him a deep respectful bow.

"Gomen, Shinomori-sensei, for disrupting your class. Misao and I are both at fault. It will not happen again."

And then she stood up straight to look directly into his eyes.

He stood there quietly, looking down on her. His face held no expression at all. Kaoru searched his eyes for something, anything. Recognition, surprise, even regret. But when all she received was an apathetic cold gaze, she forced her eyes to painfully look away.

"Very well. Sit down."

Kaoru sat quickly, and as he walked away, all she could manage to do was to stare at his retreating back sadly.

_He didn't even..._

Sighing deeply, she stared down at her hands, folded neatly on her lap.

_There was nothing..._

She bit her lip softly and swallowed a lump that was building up in her throat.

_It hurts._

* * *

"Kaoru, honey, stop playing with your food!" 

Kaoru looked up at her friend Megumi, a senior student, in surprise and scowled. "Yes…_mother_."

Another one of her friends, Sanosuke, nudged her side with his elbow and grinned. "Oi…Jou-chan! Ya gonna eat that? If ya ain't I'll be happy to-"

She shoved her plate towards Sano sullenly. His eyes twinkled gleefully. "Yea! You're the best, Jou-chan!"

Megumi gave her boyfriend a look of contempt. She then proceeded to scold Kaoru just like a mother hen would. "You shouldn't have done that! You'll only encourage him!"

"Hey! Don't talk about me as if I'm some kind of dog!" the brown-haired man howled in protest.

Megumi ignored him. "Kaoru…you've been doing nothing but shove your food around your plate for the past 10 minutes. And, you haven't said a word…which is highly unusual for a tanuki like yourself!"

When Kaoru didn't retaliate with Megumi's usual 'kitsune' nickname, the older girl knew there was something wrong.

"Are you ok?" she asked softly, not wanting to catch the rest of the group's attention. She knew Kaoru didn't want her friends fussing over her.

Unfortunately, Misao had heard Megumi. She had noticed her best friend's mood and instantly knew how to pull her out of it. She grinned. "Oh! Didn't you know? Kaoru's crushing on Shinomori-sensei…and she's bummed that she got scolded by him on the first day. Right Kao?"

The taunt apparently got to Kaoru as she immediately glared daggers at the shorter girl. "Mou! Maybe you mean YOU! Yeah…don't deny it! I saw you ogling him!"

"Pft! So what if I was?"

Soujiro sat up straight at his girlfriend's declaration. "Nani!?!"

Misao turned to Soujiro and waved her hands hastily. "Matte matte! I haven't finished. I'm not gonna deny that Shinomori-sensei is one hot piece of…"

A low growl from her boyfriend stopped her midsentence and Misao smiled sheepishly. "…I mean…that he's good-looking. But he seemed like a cold uncaring bastard anyway. He's too strict, very intimidating…and worst of all…he's no fun at all! That's definitely a turn-off for me!"

"Hmm...it sounds as if he's like Kuchiki Byakuya." Soujiro commented while rubbing his chin with his hand.

Sano eyed him, confused. "Eh? Who's that?"

"You know…the 6th division captain from _Bleach_."

The only reaction Soujiro received were blank stares. He sweat-dropped.

"It's a manga/anime! Oh come on…don't tell me you guys haven't heard of it! Mi-chan…you watched one episode with me last night!"

Misao raised her index finger in the air and exclaimed happily. "Oh yeah…I remember! It involved fighting, swords, and…watcha call it?...ah…shinigami?"

"Yes! That's it!"

"Oh Sou-chan! You watch too much anime! Especially those that involve fighting and swordplay!" Misao teased.

"Well, you watch too much soaps! Too much drama is sickening!" He replied, scrunching up his face in disgust.

Misao pouted. "Sickening? Look buddy, you promised to watch my favorite soap with me tonight after you bugged me to watch your anime. And you won't get out of it!"

"Nani?! I did not!"

As the two continued to bicker, Kaoru's mind wandered off to _him_ again. All she could focus to think about was the look of cold indifference on his face as he regarded her that morning. She admitted to herself that it hurt when he did not recognize her. If he did, then he certainly did not acknowledge it. The thought of seeing him everyday was depressing. And there was only one thing she could do.

Kaoru stood up abruptly and briskly walked out of the cafeteria, mind set on her goal.

Megumi was startled at her sudden departure. "Kaoru! Where are you off to? Tanuki!"

* * *

_Well, that didn't work._

"_**Kamiya-san, since you cannot provide us with a reasonable excuse for you to transfer to Yamada-sensei's Physics class, there is no reason for me to make the transfer." **_

"_**B-but…"**_

_**The Dean held up his hand. "Now, I assure you that Shinomori-sensei is more than competent to teach the subject. If that is what you are concerned about. You may go. Thank you, Kamiya-san."**_

Tired from her after school job as a waitress in the Akabeko, she sighed miserably and opened the door to her apartment. For once, Kaoru was glad that she lived alone because she certainly was not in the mood to speak with anyone. Surely she did not take her friends for granted, for they were all she had left in this world. They were her family. But there were times that she needed to be alone. Like now.

It had surprised her that seeing Aoshi again had affected her so much. It had been almost a year since _that night_ and she had not expected him to show up in her life again. Much less become one of her teachers. Kaoru never thought he would be the type to teach. College Physics at that. But then, she didn't really know much about him at all. _One day_. It was for only one day that she knew him. And he had managed to make her throw away her inhibitions and break all the rules she had set herself to follow. For goodness sake! Sleeping with a man she only met for a day was not a thing she thought she would ever do! And that was her first (and only) stime too! Kissing on the first date was even prohibited. She hadn't even kissed a guy until she knew him very well. She cursed herself for her weakness.

She dragged herself towards her bedroom, not even bothering to turn the lights on. All Kaoru wanted to do was throw herself on bed and go to sleep. Dropping her bag on the floor and kicking off her shoes, she felt for the edge of her bed and immediately jumped in. She didn't care that she hadn't changed into her pajamas. Sighing in mild content, she hugged her pillow and prayed silently that her dreams would be free of him before waiting for sleep to come.

"_Kaoru."_

She froze for a second.

_His voice. Am I asleep and dreaming already?_

Then she groaned.

"Kami-sama! I asked you not let me dream of Aoshi tonight…" she muttered softly.

"_Kaoru."_ It was his voice again.

She grunted and covered her head with one of her pillows.

_Just ignore it and think of something else! _

_Ha! As if you can ignore dreams!_

"_Kaoru."_ She heard him repeat. But this time, she felt something shaking her shoulder lightly. Alarmed, Kaoru jerked back and opened her eyes. She couldn't see clearly in the dark, but she could make out a figure looming over her. She did what any alarmed girl would do. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand came over her mouth to stop her. The instinct to lash out at the intruder came instantly, but she stilled as the room filled with dim light from her bedside lamp.

A pair of cold blue eyes gazed at her.

_Aoshi!_

* * *

"You wonder why I am here." 

He spoke suddenly. Kaoru looked up from her seat on the living room couch. Aoshi was standing, calmly peering out of the window. She did wonder why he was here. In fact, she was so surprised, that she hadn't spoken a word to him yet. Who could blame her? The whole day she was thinking that he had not remembered her, and now he was standing inside her apartment. Apparently, he _did_ remember her, but he still bore the cold persona he showed her in class that morning. How he knew where she lived and how he got in was a mystery, but Kaoru could not put herself up to ask him that yet. For the moment, her heart was pounding hard enough for her to conclude that she couldn't trust her voice to sound calm enough.

"I came here to clear things up." He wasn't looking at her. Kaoru kept silent still, waiting for him to continue.

"I want you to forget the past."

She snapped her head to his direction as he looked intently into her eyes. "What?'

"Forget that we ever met before."

Kaoru couldn't take it. She stood up and turned her back on him. It felt like he was stabbing a dagger through her heart. Even though she had spent only a day with him, she knew in her heart that he was special. When she first met him, she felt a connection between them. He was kind and supportive. They had talked about everything under the sun. She had liked talking to him and when she was with him, she felt safe for some reason. Yes, he was special. But right now, he was different. And Kaoru was desperately willing herself to keep herself from crying after hearing the words he had just spoken.

"You came here just to tell me that?" She tried to keep her voice leveled and calm.

"Aa."

She took a deep breath and clenched her fist. "Well you didn't have to."

She turned and looked at him hard. "You could've just continued to ignore me and pretend that I don't exist just like you did this morning."

"I wanted to make sure that you haven't told anyone about me."

_Why are you doing this? _

"And aside from Physics class, there will be nothing between us after this. You never knew me and I never knew you. I will just be your teacher, and you one of my students."

_Is that it? Is it because I'm now your student? Is it because you're ashamed of me? Did you regret that night? Was I the only one who felt that we belonged together? _

Kaoru looked at him with sad eyes. "If you weren't my teacher…and if I wasn't your student…would you still ask me to forget about you?"

He gave no response.

But she saw it. The same look in his eyes the morning after that night.

Regret.

She turned away from him and gave out a humorless chuckle. "Of course you would. After all, you disappeared on me and haven't tried to contact me…"

Kaoru trailed off and waited for him to say something. Anything that would prove her assumptions wrong.

But still he kept silent.

And to her, his silence spoke louder than any words ever could.

Yes, he would still ask her to forget about him. Because he did not feel the same way.

The thing that she had come to deny for such a long time was confirmed to be true to her eyes. Kaoru chuckled once again and gave Aoshi a smile that did not reach her downcast eyes. "I will honor your request, Shinomori-sensei." She spoke in a cheerful voice. "You should not worry anymore."

She walked towards her front door and opened it wide for him with a smirk. "Thank you for the visit. It was very…enlightening."

Aoshi stood still for a while before walking out. "Goodbye, Kamiya-san."

Closing her door shut, Kaoru's cheerful façade broke down and tears came pouring down. She placed her clenched fists to the door's surface as she tried to stop the tears.

"You played me." she whispered.

"You played me well."

She wiped the wetness from her face with her hands and walked away from the door to her bedroom.

Outside, Aoshi looked down to see the light passing through the small cleft beneath her door die down into darkness.

_I'm sorry…Kaoru._

* * *

**End of Chapter 2**

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thanks guys for reading, especially thank you for those who reviewed! WolfJade (thank you!) mentioned that **"Aitou" **specifically means condolence, but **"Kuyamu"** which is when you feel sorry about something (which is what I was aiming for). She said Aitou sound better though. Anywho, I won't change the title for now, but I hope you guys can tell me which you prefer.

Sorry for the Bleach insert. Haha. Peace.

Again, please REVIEW!


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